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The current center New Democracy party in Greece has only 152 seats out of 300, which leaves the opposition Socialists unable to form a government with the minor parties should it fall. This is why the general strike now in progress pushes the political situation in the nation of about 11 million people to critical.
Neither main political party has credibility with the rioters, or much pull with those who called the strike. The political process itself, again, is in peril, for the first time since the collapse of a CIA backed junta that ruled from 1967-74.
While the Greeks often "take their politics to the streets," as several observers have noted, rising unemployment, combined with a government austerity budget put an edge on to public anger.
Anti-police riots have spread across the country, and the air transportation grid is virtually shut down. The rising corruption scandals, including one involving an orthodox monastery, have contributed. But even more is the gleaming teeth of the government’s security apparatus. One major reason why protests became riots, was the death by shooting of a protestor. This spark turned anger into fury. The political and religious elite has been relatively indifferent to the plight of both the young and displaced middle class, calling for law and order, even if expressing some remorse over the force used.
The Guardian UK already calls this the worst civil unrest in decades in Greece, and with the recession only starting in Europe, there is, as yet, no end in sight. The government has been in stasis, unwilling to crack down hard, but also unable to restrain clashes. Unwilling to form a government of national unity, but unable to call new elections that they would certainly lose.
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The first of many such troubled government situations in Europe, I fear. And not only Europe.
Z!
Digg is open
punaise you’ll have to explain that one to the youngsters here.
How is their position in the EU, and what do they risk with massive civil unrest? Given the nonsensical poses by us Americans about Georgia, what will be the response of the big two, France and Germany? I know from your and Ian Welsh’s writings that the EU is in for some trouble, but on the geopolitical stance, could you please elaborate? For BOP’04’s sake.
the non-Zed of FDL lore I assume? (rather than Z (late-60s French movie set Greece)
i think we can expect more social and political unrest as economic stress increases. especially if the elite are out of touch and incompetent. and especially if there are not politic parties or a political process that has credibility.
probably applies to any country, including ours.
No I mean the movie, silly.
there’s a Wiki link at the letter Z in comment #2….
It doesn’t help that Greece is tied to hip economically to Germany who is sitting like a mule on the current economic crisis. The Germans are still living in fear of the return of the Weimar Republic, at a time of severe deflation.
I fear the worse for my old homeland.
” plight of both the young and displaced middle class,”
Not good. Revolutions shappen when the middle calss have nothing to loose. For a man who has nothing to loose, fears nothing, even death.
Greece has both benefited and been hindered by being in the EU. On one hand the membership in the EU and the common currency has generated a great deal of economic activity for Greece, on the other hand, the ECB’s policy hasn’t been in step with Greece’s reality. Both major parties, the Socialists and the New Democrats, have failed to deal with systemic problems in Greece – corruption, erosion of economic base, and mismanagement of resources.
Consider if you will, in short order, the sacking of a minister over a sex scandal ( http://www.reuters.com/article…..4920080211 ) and the blocking of an investigation into over 400 million dollars of bond sales at inflated prices ( http://www.economist.com/displ…..d=12209248 ). That would be like 20 billion dollars in the US based on relative GDP.
The last straw was having MPs boycott a parliamentary vote into a recent property scandal ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7688480.stm ).
The pressure on this has been building up for over a year, and the financial crisis coupled with an austerity budget while the New Democracy Party is perceived of as lining its own pockets has caused a boil over. The public does not support the violence of many of the protests, but is aghast at the government response.
I wonder how this investigation is going? The article is from Feb 08.
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/U…..12008.html
I was planning on visiting Greece in a few weeks. This kind of makes me more interested in going but at the same time worried about what might happen.
The U.S. might benefit if more of it’s politics were played out on the streets. Enough of the kabuki theater.